


Calibration

by BigJBonk



Series: Perfect AU [1]
Category: OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes
Genre: Carol's A+ Parenting, Family Bonding, Friendship, Gen, Good times y'all, Guess what a T.K.O. fic and Dendy isn't in it, Honestly so are they, K.O. trying to be nice, My First Work in This Fandom, Oneshot, Rad is confused, Spoilers for "T.K.O.'s House", T.K.O. trying to be nice, The usual tension because these dorks, These tags are out of my control, you read that right
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-23
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-05-12 23:28:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14737838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BigJBonk/pseuds/BigJBonk
Summary: K.O. and T.K.O. spend the day getting used to sharing control of one body. T.K.O. is a snot, and K.O. is just trying his best.





	Calibration

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah, I saw the episode "T.K.O.'s House," and figured I couldn't NOT write about it. I always knew my bristly boy would be a secret nice guy. Now the question is whether or not I'll be the first to get this idea out there, because I doubt I'll be the only one.
> 
> For the sake of clearing confusion, know that there is a name drop in here that as far as I know is canon, but has yet to be mentioned in the show. I think it came up in a game on the Cartoon Network site? Well, either way, I didn't just make it up. If a real name is revealed in the cartoon, I'll come back and change it.
> 
> Edit: Changed from Kaio to P.K.O., as that seems to be the general consensus.

K.O. stepped into the clearing outside of the plaza, trees surrounding him on all sides. The leaves rustled in a light, cool breeze, providing some relief on an otherwise hot day. K.O. glanced around warily, then sat down on the short grass, his back resting against one solid tree. With a long breath, he closed his eyes.

When his eyes opened again, he was in the now-familiar darkness of his mindspace, the tall but cramped house in front of him only slightly less familiar. Without bothering to knock, he walked inside; this place was his almost as much as it was the current resident's.

T.K.O. was stretched across both beanbag chairs, staring at the ceiling as he lazily plucked the strings on his guitar. Even mindlessly, he managed to play something bearable to listen to. K.O. wondered how he learned to play. He himself certainly didn't know how. Maybe his counterpart just had nothing else to do. The thought saddened him a bit.

"What are you doing here?" T.K.O. droned without bothering to look over, resigned. "Don't tell me I somehow 'misbehaved' again."

"Oh, no! Nothing like that!" K.O. stammered. "I was just thinking, I don't have work today, so maybe we could, I dunno, spend some time together?"

T.K.O. swung his legs around so that he was sitting normally, one eyebrow raised. "You can't be serious. There's nothing you can do here that you can't do out there. So why?"

"Well, because I wanted us _both_ to be outside," K.O. replied, and his alter's eyes widened a fraction. "You're always stuck in here, and that's my own fault, and any time you _do_ come out, you're... well, angry. So I thought it would be nice to have some fun for once."

T.K.O. eyed K.O. dubiously. "You're letting me out?"

"Sure, I don't see why not. I really don't think you're a bad guy, so I'm pretty sure you won't attack the plaza again... You won't, right?"

T.K.O. crossed his arms. "Tch. Acting awful chummy, aren't you?"

"So that's a no?" K.O. asked.

His counterpart frowned at him for a long time, then casually raised his arms high above his head. "You know, I could stand to stretch my legs for a bit. Even if I have to share a brain with you to do it."

"Aww, you know you like it," K.O. joked, earning him a slug on the arm.

"Whatever, just get that machine thing out already."

The two walked out of the house, and as they did the roof opened up to a large platform. They hopped onto it, and K.O. summoned the machine that would synch them up.

"So did you have any ideas?" T.K.O. asked as he slipped into his purple jumpsuit.

"Not really," said K.O. "I thought we could figure it out once we were out there. But no beating people up, okay?

"You like to take the fun out of everything, don't you," T.K.O. growled with no real malice, and K.O. giggled. "Are you gonna hook me up or what?"

"Okay, okay," K.O. laughed. "Well, here goes." He plugged T.K.O. into the machine, and his alter did the same for him. And in that moment, K.O. saw through his eyes, staring at himself. He felt that rush of anger, excitement, fear, longing, confusion, and several other emotions he couldn't put a name to. A million thoughts that weren't his flashed behind his eyes, and he knew that T.K.O. was being pulled through his own mind as well, their very essences swirling and mixing and squeezing until one mind was indistinguishable from the other. Just as K.O. felt like his head would explode, there was a feeling akin to a small pop, and all the sensations faded, bringing him back to himself.

K.O. and T.K.O. opened their eyes, and they were one and the same.

"What are we doing _here?_ " T.K.O. asked upon realizing where they were. "Why aren't we at the plaza? There's nothing to do here!"

"Well," K.O. began sheepishly, "I wasn't... _actually_ sure you wouldn't attack the plaza...?"

"Ugh, you're an _idiot!_ " T.K.O. exclaimed. "Why would I even-?! Whatever, just whatever, can we go now?"

K.O. winced- he'd forgotten just how fragile their friendship actually was- and nodded, taking the first few steps with T.K.O. Through their combined consciousness, they managed several steps before falling flat on their collective faces.

"What happened?!" T.K.O. shouted, jumping to his feet and turning in circles to confirm that he was still plugged in. "Why did we fall?!"

"I-I don't know," K.O. replied, rubbing his sore cheek. "This worked so well last time..."

Once they were both on their feet, so was their shared body. However, two more steps and they were right back on the ground. The following seven attempts yielded similar results.

"Why! Is! This! _Happening?!_ " T K.O. roared, stomping on the last word. "Fighting Shadowy Figure was so easy, so how come we can't even walk now?!"

"...Maybe we're not in sync?" suggested K.O.

"Not in sync? We're both still hooked up, you numbskull!" T.K.O. grabbed and shook his own cable for emphasis.

"But we're not in sync up here," K.O. countered, tapping on the side of his head. "We can't just act alike. We gotta think alike, too. This won't work if you're all worked up. So we gotta just calm down, look ahead, and walk. Piece of cake!"

T.K.O. gave him the best "I think you are such a moron" look he could muster, then made a big show of sighing. "Okay. Fine. We'll do it your way. Again." It was K.O.'s turn to sigh.

This time, when they walked, they managed to stay upright. It was slow going, and they had several more close calls, but in the end they made it to a tree across the clearing.

"Okay, I think we've got it," K.O. said. "You think we can make it to the plaza like this?"

"So long as you don't screw it up," T.K.O. replied easily.

"You're such a jerk."

"Yeah, well, I get it from you."

The pair pushed away from the tree, nearly falling again in the process, and headed in the direction that they knew the plaza to be in. The farther they walked, the more sure-footed they became, small, careful steps becoming a long, confident stride, one foot in front of the other. Left, right, left, right, left, right, left-

"Shut up," T.K.O. snapped. "I can't concentrate with that muttering."

Pretty soon, their vessel arrived at the plaza, emerging from the bushes at the side of the bodega. "Wanna visit Rad?" K.O. asked. "He's working today, so we can stop by."

"Ugh, that loser? Pass."

"He's not a loser," K.O. pouted. "He's actually really cool when you get to know him."

"I didn't agree to come out here to make friends with the whole plaza," T.K.O. argued, "so let's just go before he-"

"Hey, K.O.!" called the familiar baritone, Rad himself appearing not long after with a hefty garbage bag over each shoulder. "What are you doing back here, little buddy? The front door's over that way."

"I'm not here for those stupid lightning nachos," T.K.O. snapped out loud, his tone making the alien flinch. "Now get out of my way before I make you!"

"...T.K.O.?" Rad ventured.

"Um, not exactly," the vessel said, the growl leaving his voice completely. "Kind of? I mean, he and K.O., er, he and I, well, I... We're just spending the day together. This is how we... I, get around."

Rad looked at him for a moment, puzzling through the wildly changing pronouns. "...So, you're, like, a new K.O. or something, but also both K.O.s? How many K.O.s _are_ there?" He got a noncommittal shrug in response. "So, does this new K.O. have a new name? Like, New K.O., or Super K.O.? Hyper K.O.?"

"P.K.O. is fine," the vessel said simply.

"P.K.O., huh?" Rad hummed as he finally remembered the bags he was carrying and threw them into the bin. "Well, you two have fun. Or you one, I guess."

"Thanks Rad, I will!" P.K.O. called, running out of the alley with a wave.

"He isn't worthy of your friendship," T.K.O. grumbled.

"I told you, he's a really cool guy if you give him a chance," K.O. replied. "Wait a minute... Did you almost compliment me just now?"

"What about that made you think I was complimenting you?!" T.K.O. yelled, shoving K.O. harshly.

Still, the original chuckled. "It's okay to be nice to people, T.K.O.," he said.

"Well, I'm _not_ nice," the alter countered. "Being nice would totally ruin my image."

P.K.O. wandered around the plaza, trying to find something that T.K.O. thought was at least vaguely interesting. The museum was a definite no, and neither of them were particularly hungry. Even the dojo seemed too bland of an activity, T.K.O. claiming that no one would be nearly challenging enough to make the trip worthwhile.

"There's gotta be _something_ you enjoy!" K.O. pleaded.

"Yeah, _fighting,_ " T.K.O. grumped. "But the second I try, you're going to stick me back in that house."

"It's not you fighting that I have a problem with," said K.O. "It's that you're always trying to fight my friends, or my mommy, or the plaza. You know I can't let you do that."

T.K.O.'s eyes narrowed. "You're really not leaving me a lot of options here, K.O."

Sensing T.K.O.'s slowly growing animosity, K.O. racked his brain for something, anything that didn't involve hurting someone else. "H-How about the arcade? You like video games, right?"

T.K.O.'s brow quirked. "The arcade? As if I haven't played enough of your idiotic games."

"But there are some fighting games there," K.O. replied, sensing that he had his alter's interest. "There's also racing, and pinball, and air hockey, and all kinds of cool stuff! It'll be fun!"

T.K.O. considered his words for a moment. "Fine. But only because there's nothing else to do in this boring town."

When P.K.O. reached the arcade, the part of him that was T.K.O. was stunned by all the lights and sounds around him, the variety of cheers, colors, and 8-bit music almost overwhelming in their intensity. But the half that was K.O. was excited at the idea of so many possibilities, and soon P.K.O. found himself firing imaginary suction cup arrows at targets on a screen.

K.O. went through the motions to keep P.K.O. moving, but he left control of the various games largely with T.K.O., mashing buttons and tugging on joysticks and laughing with gleeful abandon. K.O. smiled to himself at the rare glimpse of T.K.O.'s genuine happiness, violet eyes bright and teeth exposed in a wide grin. K.O. was glad to have finally done something right by him.

It was nearly dark by the time T.K.O. had had his fill, announcing his content with a wide yawn. "Ready to go home?" K.O. asked. He didn't get a verbal response, but the alter's slow blink was answer enough.

P.K.O. called for Carol to pick him up, and ten minutes later he was hopping into the backseat of the car, buckling himself in.

"So, K.O.- er, P.K.O.," she began after her son explained the situation to her, "will you be hungry for dinner when we get home? I was going to make grilled cheese and tomato soup."

P.K.O. smiled softly. "That sounds nice."

After dinner was eaten- T.K.O. wouldn't admit that it had been one of the best meals he'd had; pretend sugar cereal just didn't cut it- Carol tucked P.K.O. under the covers of his bed, planting a gentle kiss on his forehead. "Good night, pumpkin."

P.K.O.'s eyes started to close of their own accord, and he fought to keep them open. "'Night, mom."

Smiling serenely, Carol fully stood, walking out of K.O.'s room. She turned off the light, leaving the door open as she left. Tired and contentedly full, P.K.O. finally let his eyelids slide shut.

Once they were "offline," K.O. and T.K.O. unfastened themselves from the machine, turning to each other. T.K.O. cleared his throat. "Uh, thanks. For letting me out for the day. It was... kind of fun, in the end."

K.O. smiled at him, his cheeks pushed up towards his eyes. "It makes me really happy to hear that, T.K.O."

The alter glanced off to the side. "Do you think we'll be able to do this again some time?"

"Of course," K.O. beamed. "And how about this: Next time we fight a Raymond or something, I'll let you handle him. Just go easy on him?"

T.K.O. laughed, loud and hearty. "Now you're talking. This ain't a one-time thing though, right?"

"Not if you don't want it to be."

"Hah, you're on." T.K.O. yawned then, stretching his arms far back. "I should probably be getting some shuteye. I'll see you whenever you stop by, I guess."

"Okay," K.O. chirped. "See you later, T.K.O.!" The alter turned around with a lazy wave, hopping off of the roof and heading inside. K.O. pulled out of the mindspace, his eyes opening briefly. With a mighty yawn of his own, he rolled over, quickly falling asleep.

He'd had a fun day.

**Author's Note:**

> I felt like this was sort of all over the place, but what can you do? I've never written these guys before.
> 
> As far as I know, Kaio is K.O.'s real first name, with his last name being Kincaid. Honestly, I'm not sure what the O stands for. Like I said, though, if Blue Fusion K.O. is given a canon name (or if he already has one and I missed it), I'll change it accordingly, but for now, I felt that Kaio works considering both K.O.s are "Kaio."
> 
> Edit: See above.
> 
> So, I hope you guys liked it!


End file.
